What Is Required of A Disciple? What Is A Disciple? Get the audio The mantra of “historical orthodox Christianity” is ‘Say the sinner's prayer, join a church and fellowship with other Christians who believe in “Unity in the essentials and tolerance in the non-essentials.” Do this and you are a disciple of Christ and a shoe-in for the first resurrection.
A disciple is a student. I for one am certainly a student of Jesus Christ. All of Christ’s elect are His disciples to whom this verse applies: John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; This verse gives the lie to the false doctrine called the ten second sinner's prayer. Christ makes this statement to “those Jews which believed in him.” One of the greatest false doctrines in the Adversary’s arsenal is the twisting of Christ’s admonition to be merciful in judgment, and twisting it into a doctrine that forbids God’s church from “judging the things which are within.” Here is that much distorted scripture: Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Paul tells us clearly that we had better put the leavening of false doctrines and sin out of our midst. But the Adversary has the entire “historical orthodox Christian church” convinced that heresy in God’s church is perfectly acceptable. The mantra of all ecumenical minds is “Unity in the essentials and tolerance in the non-essentials.” Exactly what is ‘essential’ and what is ‘nonessential’ is left up to the lead wolves to decide. Here is Christ drawing a distinction between those disciples who “believe on Him” and those who “continue in my word.” Believing on Christ and publicly proclaiming Him as your Lord might have many believing that you are a disciple of Christ. But according to Christ, nothing could be further from the Truth. According to Christ only those who “continue in His word are His disciples indeed.” Do you doubt that this is true? Do you think that believing in Christ and praying the sinner's prayer, proclaiming your love and your belief in the grace and faith of Jesus Christ are all that is needed for salvation? Well, think again. Just look at what Christ has to say to these very “Jews which believed on Him:” John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. John 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. And so it is to this very day; those who believe in Christ want to kill those who are faithful to His Words “Love thine enemies… All who take up the sword shall die by the sword.” These words of our Lord are hated and despised by all the leaders of “historical orthodox Christianity.” Hence it is only those who “continue in my Word" who are Christ’s disciples indeed.” All others may loudly proclaim otherwise, but their doctrine betrays the fact that “My Word has no place in you.” Here is how important “continuing in my Word” was to the apostle Paul:” Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Tit 3:11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself. Isn’t the weeding out of heretics and witches something reserved for fanatical tyrants like the early Puritans, or modern day cult leaders? Who has any right to tell me that their doctrine is better than my doctrine? One thing is certain. No one can tell anyone else what they must do: 2 Cor 1:24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand. And what is a heretic? A heretic is one who teaches heresy. And what is heresy? Heresy is false doctrine coming from the mouth of false brothers who call themselves God’s prophets and all the while teaching those under their charge to disobey, hate and despise the doctrine of Christ. Where does Titus 3:10 fit into “unity in the essentials and tolerance in the non-essentials?” Contrast this ecumenical doctrine of toleration of heresy with these words of admonition from God’s own apostles: 2 Cor 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus [ A Jesus who tells you to take up again thy sword and fight for God and country], whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another [ecumenical- lets just tolerate heresy, otherwise we’ll appear as a know it all dictator] spirit, which ye have not received, or another [God will burn most of His creation in hell for all eternity] gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear [ecumenically] with him [in the non-essentials]. Paul was apparently well aware of how hard it is to stay faithful to Christ’s words in the face of those who teach Christ’s people that ‘all that matters is love and grace and faith.’But if “judge not that ye be not judged,” means that we are not ever to judge heretics, then where, pray tell, do these inspired words fit into “Unity in the essentials and tolerance in the non-essentials?” 1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit [doctrine] , but try the spirits [doctrines] whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the [church] world. 1 John 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that [the true ‘Love
thine enemies’] Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that [the true ‘love thine enemies’] Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world [’Don’t listen to Christ, why if you listen to Christ you won’t even be able to have a web page, you had better take up your sword and fight against and kill your enemies or you will be in a world ruled by Judaistic Pharisees in Peter’s day or Moslems today, Russians yesterday and Germans before that, etc.] and the [ecumenical]world heareth them. 1 John 4:6 We [who abide in the doctrine of Christ] are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth,
and the spirit of error. 1 John4:7 Beloved, let us love [thine enemies and] one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 1 John 4:8 He that loveth not [his enemies] knoweth not God; for God is love. Look closely at these words of the doctrine of Christ, so slighted by the ecumenical mind: 2 John 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from [Christ- love thine enemies… put up again thy sword, all who live by the sword shall die by the sword] the beginning, ye should walk in it. 2 John 1:7 For many [ecumenical] deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that [the true] Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This [ecumenical Jesus ] is a deceiver and an
antichrist. 2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. 2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ,
hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 2 John 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this [love thine enemies… put up again thy sword ] doctrine, receive him not into your house,
neither bid him God speed: 2 John 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. Do these verses have any affect upon the ecumenical mind? I have yet to see these verses addressed by any of the thousands who preach and teach that love and faith and grace are all that matters. “Unity in the essentials and tolerance in the non-essentials” is a much more popular doctrine than the doctrine of Christ which right here tells us that we must “abide in the doctrine of Christ or else we “have not God.” And while these detractors loudly proclaim their love, just look at how John here defines love.
"And this
is love, that we walk after his [love thine enemies… put up thy sword]
commandments" And it is even more telling when we discover that the word translated ‘continue’ as in...: John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; ...is the Greek word ‘meno,’ Strongs # 3306. This is the exact same Greek word which is translated as ‘abide’ here in 2 John: 2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth [Greek ‘meno’] not in the
doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
in the doctrine of
Christ’s words...: Matt 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. Matt 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. ...have very effectively been twisted into a lie which has effectively dismantled the shield against heresy which these many verses concerning ‘abiding in the doctrine of Christ,’ would have provided. What Christ is saying here at the beginning of Matthew seven is “judge not [harshly] that you be not judged [harshly] for with what judgment ye judge , ye shall be judged.” These words, as is so often the case, duplicate the very next verses: Matt 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Matt 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Matt 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Is Christ telling us not to judge our brother’s heresies? No, not at all. Look at His conclusion: Matt 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Christ wants us to get the moat out of our brother's eye. But Christ will not tolerate hypocrisy. Get the beam out of thine own eye first “then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” And it is in this same chapter where Christ makes this statement: Matt 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matt 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Matt 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Matt 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Matt 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Matt 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. “Ye shall know them by their fruits?” Does that sound like Christ was telling us not to judge the things within the church? No, of course not. The scriptures do not contradict themselves. Paul instructed the church at Corinth to judge both sin and heresy in their midst: 1 Cor 5:12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them
that are within? 1Cor 5:13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. Does that sound like Paul thought that Matthew 7:1-2 meant that we were not to judge sin and heresy in our midst? No, Paul tells us to put away from among yourselves that wicked person [who abideth not in the doctrine of Christ.”] Christ made no attempt at being ecumenical. Neither will His “disciples indeed.” Many are called to proclaim themselves His disciples. But very few are chosen to be faithful to the words of Christ. For those few hearty souls Christ has these words of warning and encouragement: Matt 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matt 10:23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. Matt 10:24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. Matt 10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? “Hated of all men…called...Beelzebub, persecuted. ” What else do God’s elect have to look forward to? Apparently those who will remain faithful to and “aide in the doctrines of Christ” will be a lonely bunch: Matt 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen If Christ were persecuted, hated of all men, called names and a member of a very small and scattered group, then we, too, must suffer the same because: 1 John 4:17 (b) …As he is, so are we in this world.
I hope you see now what it means to be a “disciple indeed.” And I especially hope that you can discern the difference between a disciple and a disciple indeed? I hope you can now understand why the entire “historical orthodox Christian church” is so hopelessly lost in a sea of heresy. And above all I hope you can see that heresy is not to be tolerated at all. I ask this question every opportunity I get to do so: Who is the ‘we and the us’ of 1 John 4: 1 John 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us.
Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. If we are unable or unwilling to immediately identify with this exclusive group as those who” abide in the doctrine of Christ,” who are the limus test for the “spirit of truth versus the spirit of error,” then we must remember: Luk 19:22 (a) …Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant… So here is your choice. It is a caused choice, but you will have to choose between these two: “Unity in the essentials and tolerance in the non-essentials,” VERSUS: 1 John 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.